family fun, days 10-11: venice!

Okay...time to catch up/super-update! Ready?

Day 10:
After breakfast, we set out on foot to find the Rialto markets, which were mostly fish/seafood markets (talk about pungent!) and fruit markets. Fun stuff! The fish markets had a lot of different and exotic looking seafoods (ie. cuttlefish, swordfish)--pretty exciting. Crossing the super well-known Rialto Bridge (the most-photographed bridge in Italy or Europe, I forget) reminded me of Ponte Vecchio in Florence, since both have a lot of shops on them.
St. Mark's Basilica was very grand and beautiful, with the ceilings full of Biblical characters and stories set on gold mosaic background (we're learning about it in class now! Haha). Lunch was at Marco Polo Restaurant, per Caiqian's recommendation, and it was alright. My spaghetti with squid ink was quite an adventure and gave me a very black mouth, to the amusement of my family. If you go to Venice, eat seafood! Even though my parents got normal spaghetti and margherita pizza, haha...After lunch, our parents left us to check out the casino, but after Michelle and I started wandering for a bit, we ran into them! Turns out we were close to the casino, and they didn't end up going in and headed back to the hotel instead. Munching on fruit cups followed by gelato (Michelle found her beloved Crema de Grom, haha), we wandered down different streets and got slightly lost, but that's part of the fun in Venice. Trust me :)
After meeting our parents back at the hotel, we took our first vaporetto (water bus) to St. Mark's, which was pretty fun. We didn't go down the Grand Canal, but went south of the island, past Giudecca, so we got to see a bit of the open sea, which was still pretty nice. The Bridge of Sighs is tinier than I thought (right off the Doge's Palace) and has the acclaimed tiny windows where, legend says, prisoners would look out at the sky one last time and sigh as they headed to their death. Mmmmorbid...
After a bit of confusion, we found Il Ridotto (per Michelle's friend's recommendation) and its connecting restaurant, which her friend had recommended for pizza. We ended up sitting next to a group of elderly folk who were from different parts of the U.S. (Chicago, Nashville, Boston) and were traveling together in Italy. Fun times! They were pretty friendly and easy to talk to. We even saw them briefly on the streets the next day while getting gelato, haha.
Back at St. Mark's, now that it was nighttime, we saw some of the "dueling orchestras" that Rick Steves talked about, which was basically small bands in front of different cafes performing different pieces. One of them did a Sound of Music medley :D Then we took the vaporetto back along the Grand Canal, which was really pretty--all of the palazzos (palaces) were lit up with lights, and it was just really neat to see it at night in a totally different light (Rialto Bridge, too).

Day 11:
In the morning, we took another vaporetto to Murano, the small island of Venice dedicated to glass-making. We got to see a brief glass-blowing demonstration and then just wandered down the main street past dozens of glass shops with a lot of cool glasswork! Glass is so pretty (and versatile, too!). We also checked out the glass museum, which had information on how glass-making works, as well as glasswork from more ancient times. After a quick lunch, we vaporetto-ed back to St. Mark's (and I got splashed on the way, lol), where we got to feed pigeons! :D No joke, that stuff is really fun. A lot of people were doing it, actually. We just took what we had (a big meringue and croissants, haha), crushed/tore it up, and held it out. The pigeons landed on our hands, arms, shoulders, and even our heads! Michelle and I had a lot of fun and even got our parents to join us :) Thank goodness, none of them pooped on us, but we got some pretty fun pictures. On our way out from the square, we actually ran across an acapella group that was giving an impromptu performance! They were Italian but were singing English songs: a couple of hymns/worship songs, as well as Build Me Up, Buttercup :) good stuff! I recorded them and am trying to upload them to Facebook...but yeah, that was pretty cool. The praise songs were new to us, but we really liked them! For the rest of the afternoon, we just ate (gelato and Nutella crepe, mmm) and chilled at the hotel and train station, waiting for my train.
Finally, the time came for me to get on my train and leave my family. Gah, that was hard. I knew I'd have a hard time saying goodbye, especially knowing that I won't see my parents for a few months at the very least :( I tried to hold back my tears, but as I hugged them goodbye, it was impossible. I felt so embarrassed once I sat in my seat, since my family was waiting just outside my seat window, but it took a little while to calm down >.< Man, praise God for family. I love them so much :) and I wish they could still be with me when I travel and have adventures!
After about an hour on the train, I got to Padova, where I made it to my hostel after getting help and directions (and even a hand-drawn map! so kind) to my hostel. I walked around for a bit to Prato della Valle, St. Anthony's, and Piazza Erbe, just to see what they were like at night. The basilica obviously wasn't open, and Piazza Erbe was empty, but I really liked Prato della Valle. It's like a huge park area in the shape of an oval, so there's plenty of room to walk around and just sit, chat with friends, walk your dog, people watch, or even rollerblade. I loved the feel of it, and I think my family would have enjoyed it :) since we're into walking after meals. Back at the hostel, I met a couple of girls in my room--Anna from Germany and Ayako from Japan--who I got to talk to for a bit about their travels, and then we all just went to sleep. I was officially on my own!